Birds top Cavies, inchcloser to county title

Mallory Novack of Southwestern drives around Carlinville’s Emma Griffith Thursday night during the Macoupin County Tournament.

James B. Ritter | For The Telegraph

PIASA — Runner-up as the top seed in each of the previous two years, a Macoupin County Tournament championship made the 2016 wish list for the Southwestern Piasa Birds.

The Birds took another step toward that girls basketball title Thursday night by beating the two-time defending champion Carlinville Cavaliers 54-33 at Southwestern High School.

“I feel like Southwestern and Carlinville, over the years, have built up a little bit of a rivalry in the county tournament,” Southwestern senior Maddy Greeling said. “As a senior, not winning this since my freshman year, I think all the seniors are pretty hungry right now for a county championship.”

After knocking off the Birds in the tourney title game each of the past two seasons, the Cavaliers were no match for the Birds. Southwestern took command with a 20-4 lead after one quarter and were up 33-9 by halftime.

The Birds, ranked No. 3 in the Class 2A state poll, extended their winning streak to 15 in succession while improving to 19-3. Carlinville, which graduated four starters from last season’s squad, is 7-16.

Southwestern is looking to become the first team to win the county tournament, which rotates sites, on its home court since the Birds won it here in 1990.

“Obviously, at home you’d like to win it,” said Southwestern coach Steve Wooley, whose team also owns a 39-game winning streak at home. “We’re just happy to be healthy right now and we’re more interested in getting prepared for the postseason.”

Recent Macoupin County Tourney history has not been a friend of the Birds. Two seasons ago, Carlinville got a buzzer-beating basket from Marley Schmidt to beat Southwestern in Bunker Hill. Last season, the Birds lost Kelsey Rhoades to a season-ending injury in the tourney opener and went on to drop the title game to the Cavs in Gillespie.

On Thursday, Greeling scored 18 points and Rhoades had 12 for the Birds, who had 10 players score in the victory. Southwestern forced 10 Cavaliers turnovers in the first quarter 16 in the first half.

Wooley wanted his team to sustain its intensity with a big lead in the second half, but the Birds backed off their defensive pressure and much of their energy left with it.

“That’s something that we have to learn how to deal with,” Wooley said. “You jump on somebody early, you get them down and then you want to coast the rest of the way. When we play hard, when we play with intensity, our defense is really good. But we got a little lackadaisical the second half.

Wooley then smiled and added, “That’s nothing that can’t be solved with some sprints in practice.”

The Birds coach was pleased with performances off the bench with Mackenzie Wolff knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to finish with six points.

“We’ve been getting more and more of that the second half of the season,” Wooley said of contributions from role players. “We’ve been getting more balance with people coming off the bench. Mackenzie Wolff came in and did a really good job. Mallory Novack, kids like that are starting to come into their own a little bit.

“When they come into the game, they’re not afraid to take shots, they’re not afraid to do some things now. It makes it tougher to guard us when we have that.”

Carlinville trimmed a deficit as large as 26 points in the first half to 17 when Marley Schmidt and Hannah Lair scored in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to draw within 43-36. But there would be no Cavie miracle.

Grace Zachary, who had nine rebounds, matched Lair with eight points and Olivia Olroyd came off the bench to score seven points on 7 of 8 shooting from the foul line for Carlinville.

Now, the Birds take aim at their 16th county championship against a Mount Olive team seeking its first.

“Mount Olive’s got a real nice squad,” Wooley said. “That will be a nice game for us. But we’re looking three weeks down the road, trying to get prepared for that.”

Mount Olive 57, Gillespie 49 – The Wildcats punched their ticket to the championship game with a hard-fought victory over the Miners.

Mount Olive picked up its school record 21st victory while moving to 21-3. The Wildcats have won 16 of their last 17 games. Gillespie saw its five-game winning streak halted and dropped to 14-7.

Mount Olive built a double-digits lead early, but the Miners rallied. Gillespie cut a 20-9 deficit after one quarter to 35-28 at the half. The Miners would draw even at 34-34 on an Amanda Schmidt basket with 4:10 left in the third quarter.

But Mount Olive, battling major foul trouble, never trailed and held off the Miners in the fourth quarter. Schmidt led all scorers with 23 points, while Bailey Jarman had 10 for Gillespie.

Mallory Novack of Southwestern drives around Carlinville’s Emma Griffith Thursday night during the Macoupin County Tournament.

http://thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_122swesternMainPic.jpgMallory Novack of Southwestern drives around Carlinville’s Emma Griffith Thursday night during the Macoupin County Tournament. James B. Ritter | For The Telegraph

Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack